I remember feeling crazy determined and scared, but knowing it was the best thing for my family and my sanity.

I remember the conversations with my husband about how it sucked that I couldn't just take time off for a vacation. As I was literally on call 24 hours a day to my job.

And I remember my first day behind my computer, without a website, or a client and not knowing the first thing to do.

Fast forward to today! I have built a successful six figure Online Business Management company, with a team of four, a roster of amazing clients who I adore and the freedom to work from wherever I want.

That sounds almost cliche' with todays marketing, but it could not be closer to the truth. I work in my jammies sometimes, I wake up and start my day when I want, I schedule client calls when I want, I take on the projects that I want (I say NO to the ones I don't want), and I take my laptop on the road with me when we travel.

Most importantly, I can now DECIDE how much I want to make by investing in learning the tools I know that I can market and sell (and have fun working in)..

But where did I start? I started with a hope, a dream, a coach and a ba-jillion hours researching platforms via support chats, free trials and you tube videos. I spent hours upon hours learning how to work in the top platforms instead of billing clients for time, because when I started there simply weren't any programs out there that taught the skills I knew I needed to be successful.

So after a great deal of learning, teaching, mentoring and creating my own success....I partnered up with a 6 figure Business Strategist, Ariel Frey, and together we developed a program unlike any other for Virtual Assistants and Online Business Managers.

The Fully Booked OBMis an online LIVE training program that offers a never before seen Power Packed combo of Branding, Strategy, Mindset, Marketing, Business, Systems, Procedures, Hiring, Client Care, and online trainings in OVER 50 TOP PLATFORMS! PLUS, you get twice monthly Live Q&A Calls with Chelle and Ariel, access to additional extensive trainings in the OBM Resource Center, a hands on internship with a REAL potential client and SO MUCH MORE!

THIS is THE program for you whether you are just starting out or are looking to level up to $5k, $8K or $10K months, work with clients you LOVE and have the ability to control when and where you work!

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I remember the day I said "no more" to my corporate job.

I remember feeling crazy determined and scared, but knowing it was the best thing for my family and my sanity.

I remember the conversations with my husband about how it sucked that I couldn't just take time off for a vacation. As I was literally on call 24 hours a day to my job.

And I remember my first day at home, behind my computer, without a website, or one single client and not knowing the first thing to do. Yeah...I was once in YOUR shoes!

Fast forward to today! I've built a successful six figure Online Business Management agency, with a team of five, a roster of amazing clients who I adore and the freedom to work from wherever I want.

That sounds almost cliche', but it could not be closer to the truth. I work in my yoga pants sometimes, I can wake up and walk my kids to school without rushing, I schedule client calls at a decent hour (no more 6am meetings), I take on the projects that I want (and I say NO to the ones I don't want), and I take my laptop on the road with me when we travel.

Most importantly, I DECIDE how much I want to make - by investing in learning the tools I know that I can market and sell (and have fun working in).

But where did I start?

I started with a hope, a dream, a mentor and a ba-jillion hours researching platforms via support chats, free trials and youtube videos. I spent hours upon hours UPON HOURS learning how to work in the top platforms, instead of billing clients for time, because when I started there simply weren't any programs out there that taught the skills I knew I needed to be successful.

So after a great deal of learning, teaching, mentoring and creating my own success story....I partnered up with a handful of brilliant women and created the Fully Booked OBM. We are proud to announce that this program is now rolling into it's second season with a new home, new bonuses, updated and upgraded content.

This isn't some lame, cookie cutter, plug and play, program. You’ll get clarity on your unique business focus, your why, and create a marketing plan that fast tracks your success and sets you apart from the pack!

Want to know my favorite part of this program?

It GROWS with your biz. As you build your empire and develop new skills, this program will act as your faithful sidekick, always there to help you uplevel and expand your skills and knowledge base!

So, whether you are just starting out or are looking to level up to $5k, $8K or $10K months, work with clients you LOVE and have the ability to control when and where you work...CLICK HERE and learn how to Skyrocket your VA or OBM business today.

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Still on the fence?

Check out our TOP 3 reasons we choose Acuity every day of the week and twice on Sundays!

1) It's CHEAP! Seriously....if you are a Squarespace user (it's actually FREE!), but until October 16th (PRICE INCREASE COMING!!!) a standard Emerging Entrepreneur account is only $10 a month. Now, you may be saying, "But my current scheduler is only $10 a month...." Well, let me introduce you to Reason #2.

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2) You can accept payments and set up payment plans for services right in Acuity. YES! Charge for a strategy session (using Stripe) right in Acuity without having to hook up yet another third-party checkout cart. If you aren't following me on this one....then that means Acuity is PERFECT for you! Seriously, Keep It Simple Sexy!

And our most FAVORITE reason...

3) It integrates directly with ZOOM. Shut the Front Door!!!! So, if you use Zoom for client calls and you find that you or an assistant is creating new zoom links for each appointment and manually sending them to each client....then HALLELUJAHAcuityis here to save the day. You can literally connect Acuity with Zoom and tell it to automatically set up a Zoom meeting with whatever appointment types you want and send the link out to the client whenever you'd like! All Automatically!

If that's not enough reasons, well here's one more...it's PRETTY! Customize the fonts, colors, and add your logo...then embed it right into your website.

Facebook Message: "Help! Remove this contact from all my stuff & lists right NOW! They didn't make their payment today!"

Text Message:"Hey, can you send me a link to do a quick sale today for _____ product? I already posted about it on Facebook so I need it like...yesterday."

Email Reply @ 4:15pm:"Yes, yes. I know. I'm working on tomorrow's module email and workbook and videos right now and I'll get it to you in just a few....." (then 10:15pm rolls around)

Each of the above scenarios are unfortunately common and daily occurrences for many online support providers of all types. Unplanned, last minute and urgent requests arrive on various platforms at all hours of the day and night. Usually with a hint of desperation or panic between the lines. Some requests are valid and warranted, such as mid-launch glitches and unannounced platform downtimes. These type of "things gone awry" are typically planned for by both the client and support professional.

However, what about those requests that come in outside of business hours and with an unrealistic turn around time expectation outside of your normal business practices? Let's take a closer look at "Rush Fees vs Charging by Work style".

Definitions

Rush Job: Any task that comes in outside of business hours with a completion expectation less then your set turn around time.

Rush Fee: A negotiated fee for tasks requested by the client to be completed outside of business hours or in less then the set company turn around time.

Two Basic Boundaries

As a support professional, your business mission is to provide first class client support and customer service. With a business model focused on being of service to others, it can be easy to become vulnerable to "people pleasing" and avoid two basic rules of engagement that are meant to protect you and your clients.

1) Set Business Hours: Identify your daily business hours and stick to them. Post them on your website, in your contract and your welcome packet (if you provide one). This should include if you work weekends or not.

2) Turn Around Time: Determine a realistic turn around time for the type of services you provide and state that clearly in your discovery call, contract and welcome packet. Turn around times will vary between Virtual Assistants, Online Business Managers, Graphic Designers, Website Designers, etc. You may even have different types of turn around times (Client Emails minimum 24 hours, Project & Tasks minimum 48 hours, etc).

Rush Fee or Custom Pricing

Now that we've covered the two basic boundaries that support professionals should have in place, how does the support professional deal with the inevitable requests that will come in outside of these boundaries.

Should they charge a rush fee or simply charge a higher retainer rate based on the client's working style?

"How would I know a client's work style" you ask? Well, there are certain questions you can ask on a discovery call to learn more about a client's work style, including:

"What time of the day do you get the most done?""When an idea comes to you, what do you do next?""When you go on a vacation, do you like to plan all the details ahead of time or just let things happen as they come?"

If a client is a procrastinator (or works best under pressure), likes to jump on an idea when it's HOT...like RIGHT NOW RIGHT RIGHT NOW, or works best in the wee hours of the night and weekends...these may all be tell-tell signs that they may tend to request tasks outside of business hours and with unrealistic turn around expectations. In that case, if you provide services based on retainer or scope of work, it may make more sense to increase your monthly pricing to accommodate the additional last minute tasks and emergency shifting of work and schedules that you may inevitably encounter.

As a client, you may be thinking..."wait a minute, that doesn't seem fair." Well, consider this scenario for a moment:

"When you shop online and you want your purchase delivered to you overnight or 2 day, you pay a higher shipping fee correct? If you're ok with regular shipping, it's often provided to you free of charge."

The same applies to support professionals. They often have more than 1 client at a time and schedule their contracted workloads days (or even weeks) in advance in order to ensure that client work is completed on time and correctly. If they are constantly stopping and shifting gears for last minute requests, it has the potential to affect everyone negatively....including YOU at some point.

Rush Fee's are definitely a way to deter client's from requesting rush jobs, but they can also have a negative impact on a client's overall experience. Therefore, one recommendation is to provide language in your contract regarding your business hours, turn around times and rush fees. However, use your discovery call to learn as much about a client as possible.

Remember, you, as the support professional, are interviewing the potential client, just as much as the potential client is interviewing you! This is your chance to decide if a client is a good fit with your company culture, your specific services and YOUR workstyle.

Can you relate to this post as a support professional or online service based entrepreneur? Share below the creative ways you have of developed for handling rush jobs.

What if someone told you that you could make more money without raising your prices? As an Online Service based entrepreneur, you would probably think that's crazy and impossible. Especially as a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager - aside from dropping hourly packages, the next loudest advice out there is to raise your pricing. Sound about right?

Well, I have news for you....it's NOT the only way. You CAN increase your income, work less and get more consistent income (as in stable & secure) without increasing your prices by even $1. NOT 1$ more! Don't believe me?

Well, let me tell you a story....about one of my amazing mentorship clients who happens to be a wicked fast Virtual Assistant. When we started working together we pulled together a quick business overview to evaluate how much she was working, # of clients, services and current income.

Client Biz Overview (beginning)

Inconsistent billing (meaning she never knew when her next payments were coming and they would drag out sometimes for up to 90 days)

Daily billing time to evaluate where clients were with hours and determining next invoice date

And over 256 hours booked at any given time (let's do the math - that's about 64 hours a week)

$4k/month

Her goals included consistent $5k/months, onboard a team member and decrease workload (without decreasing income).

The caveat to whatever strategy we devised: she wanted to stay at a lower price range as she had a passion for the specific target audience she was serving. Although many would advise her to raise her rates to match her value, that's not what we did! However, this client did not equate her value with her price, but instead with her service to her clientele. A level of fairness that I had not encountered in quite some time.

Ultimately, the solution was simple.

New Pricing/Packaging Strategy

Convert all packages from hourly billing to a Monthly commitment. So if a client was on 10 hours (that could be used in 60-90 days), convert them to a 10 hour/month package.

Eliminate 90 day and 5 hour packages and replace with 10 hours/month

Determine a scope of work to be accomplished in the hourly package and stop offering hourly packages with an unknown scope of work (this is the quickest way for fast workers to burn out)

Determine two consistent billing dates per month

Convert all clients she LOVED working with to new monthly packages and decline renewals on those she did not align with

Place all new clients and converted clients on automatic payment plans

Start offering scope of work packages (based on her hourly rate but with very defined deliverables)

By implementing the above strategy, this would allow her to do the following:

Have consistent income on two days per month that she could rely upon

Allow her to decrease her hours by converting the clients she loved to slightly higher hour packages and eliminate the clients who caused more stress than joy

Eliminate the numerous hours she spent on tracking hours and invoicing

Allow her to hire a team member who could now follow a set scope of work versus a set number of hours for anything under the sun.

Within 1 month of implementation, we revisited her biz overview...

Client Biz Overview (updated 1 month)

14 Monthly package clients

1 Scope of Work client at full time rate

Consistent monthly billing

Hired 1 new team member

$5200/month

Now, before you think to yourself, "$1200 a month isn't much." Make sure you pay attention to the fact that she decreased her client load from 24 to 15 (approximately a 61 hour decrease!! That's more than a WHOLE week's worth of work!), hired a team member and got herself out of working SUPER fast and taking forever to use up a client's hours.

So the next time someone tells you to simply "raise your rates"....take a look at your overall business overview and see where potential changes in your internal operations, pricing structure, and offerings might be. You may be surprised at how easy it can be to decrease your workload while increasing your income.

This is what worked for her, but know that something different may work for you. Interested in growing your business in a way that feels great to you? Let's talk.

At one time or another, every Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager has a heard those words..."I need a Leadpage for my new magical thing. Can you do this like ASAP? It's just a quick Leadpage...."

Now, take a deep breath, because I can already feel some of you getting riled up already. This anxiety is a reaction to what feels like an unrealistic request. When in reality, this is most often a simple uneducated expectation that can be resolved with a quick conversation.

So how do you have that conversation? How do you explain all the intricacies of a "quick Leadpage"? Let's take a look at the Common Expectation versus the Reality of the Project. Also, download the free checklist of questions you should be asking yourself or prepared to answer before outsourcing this project.

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Common Client Expectation

Expectation as Communicated from Client:I need a Leadpage for my new magical thing. Can you do this like ASAP? And I am working on a PDF too.

Also, Client Expectation (NOT Communicated): I need someone to make a pretty page for my new thing. It's just one page and I have the title of the thing it's about. Oh, and I probably need a PDF too. I may even try running my first Facebook ad to this. I don't think this should take but an hour or so. COOL?

Reality of the Project as heard by the Support Pro:

What kind of Leadpage?

Is this an Opt In, a Webinar, a tripwire, a sales page....WHAT IS IT FOR

What is this Leadpage supposed to do? Collect emails, sell something, etc.

Is the copy for the page written? Is it written WELL?

What type of look (design) should this be?

Do I have images and branding elements?

Is this Leadpage part of a larger funnel? Like what is the bigger picture here?

What about the Thank You page?

What is the Call To Action (CTA?)

Is there an email delivering something?

Is there an auto-responder at all for this and is it written?

What platform is collecting information?

What platform are checkout forms coming from?

What IS the deliverable? Is it made? What is it and where is being delivered from? Dropbox, Soundcloud, Vimeo, Youtube, Google Drive, etc.

Will there be ads running to this? Do I have the Facebook pixel?

See my point? I could keep going with questions, because the reality of this request is that there is SO much more to setting up a Leadpage then just slapping up a page on the interwebs. A well-versed support professional is automatically going to map out all of these pieces before starting on this project because often times, one detail can affect another, creating a domino effect every time a client has a change.

There are Pro's who can whip up a short form opt in Leadpage in a couple hours all the way up to a day, depending on if they have all the details and how intense the design is. There are also sales page professionals who can take a week or so if they are creating powerful copy and custom graphic design. Bottom line, there isn't really an "average" amount of time to create a Leadpage and this task certainly isn't "just a quick" task.

Done right, Leadpages take time to write compelling copy for, navigate design and integrate with the larger technical pieces. Make sure you are prepared to answer the above questions and provide a realistic timeline (ASAP is not realistic) if you are seeking support with creating your Leadpages.

Set your virtual assistant or online business manager up to provide you with an amazing experience and finished product.

"Facebook Groups are Dead" - said no actively engaged online entrepreneur ever! HA! In fact, Facebook Groups are one of the fastest growing resources available for any type of entrepreneur to tap into for support, research and potential clients.

For support service providers like Virtual Assistants, Online Business Managers, and Project Managers these groups are full of thought provoking business questions, valuable research on ideal clients and insight into new potential skills and platforms you may want to consider learning and offering as a service.

Also, when you are an active part of a larger community, you are more likely to gain trust, recognition and recommendations from others.

Now, because there are literally 1000' of Facebook Groups out there, and we don't want you getting sucked into Facebook land too long...we've compiled a list of our top 15 recommended Facebook Groups that every Support Pros should be a part of.

Are you a member of any of these groups for entrepreneurs? Know of another fab group that's not listed? Please let us know by dropping a comment below. We love hearing about new and happening groups on Facebook.

LAUNCH your Virtual Assistant business in 30 days!

Wouldn't it feel marvelous to have a checklist of EVERYTHING you need to do to set your business up right and prepare it to GROW? We're going to answer for you: YES IT WOULD!